Evening mechanism for cotton-openers



(No Model.) 4SheetS-Sheet 1. J. C. POTTER.

EVENING MBGHANISM FOR GOTTON OPENERS.

No. 375,301. Patented Dec. 20, 1887.

lllllllllllllll LILI El El (No Model.) A 4 SheetS-Sheet 2. J. C. POTTER.

EVBNING MEGHANISM FOR COITON OPBNERS.

No. 375,301. Patented D00.'20, 1887.

(No Model.) 4 SheetsSheet 3.

J. C. POTTER.

EVENING MBGHANISM FOR GOTTON OPBNBRSL No. 375,301. Patented Dec. 20,1887.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

J. C. POTTER.

EVENING MBGHANISM FOR GOTTON OPBNBRS.

No. 375;301. Patented Dec. 20, 1887.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JAMES C. POTTER, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

EV ENING MECHANISM FOR COTTON-OPENERS.

SPECIFICATION 10HMng part of Letters Patent No. 375,301. dated December20, 1887.

Application filed July 0, 1887. Serial No. 243,507. (No model.)

T0 all whom it may'concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES C. POTTER, of Lowell, in the county ofMiddlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Evening Mechanisms for Oott0n0peners and otherEngines or Machines for Working Cotton and other Fibrous Materials, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My inventiou has relation to that kind of evening mechanismwhich-comprises, among other things, an evenenroll and pivoted orh1ngedevener-plates co-operating therewith, in combination withscale-levers and means whereby the movements of said scale-levers (dueto that of any one or more of the evenerplates) are availed of to shiftthe belt on the cone pulleys or drums for the purpose of regulating thefeed. Heretof0re, so far as I am inf0rmed, it has been customary inevening mechanism of this kind to arrange the scalelevers one above theother in a vertical plane, connecting the uppermost scale-levers Withtheir appropriate evener-plates by rods ex tending between said leversand plates, and supporting the lowermost or main scale-lever upon theshorter arm of a pivoted Vibratory weight ed lever, which acts to holdup the con necting-rods against the evener-plates, and at the same timeserves to actuate the cone-belt shipper. Such an organization as the onejust referred to is illustrated in Letters Patent No. 146,7 94,0fJanuary 27 1874, among others. One drawbaok to said arrangement is that,as the end of the vibratory weighted lever moves in the are of a circle,the point at which it meets the main-scale 1ever will,when the saidscale-lever moves, be carried to one side or the other of the verticalplane of the scalelevers, with the effect of canting said levers out ofplumb, andth us cramping their movement, rendering them less sensitiveand requiring greater power to actuate them. In the instance justreferred to the weighted or fulcrum lover is arranged to vibrate in aplane transverse to that of the scale-lever system; but a similardisadvantage results when the said lever vibrates' in a plane parallelto or coincident with that of the scale-lever system, as is sometimesthe case. The end of the fulcrum-lev'er still moves in a curved path,and

the tendency of this movement is to pull the scale-lever system endwisein one direction or the other, according to the direction of vibra torymovement of the end of the fulcrum-lever. Thus so long as the end of thefulcrum-lever vibrates or moves in a curved path the tendency will be todisturb the scale-lever system, With the efiect of cramping andrenderingless sensitive the same. Another drawback is due to the factthat the connecting-rods meet the plates themselves, which have in anyevent a comparatively slight range of movement, the consequence} beingthat a correspondinglyslight movement is imparted to the scale-leversthemselves, so that the exaggeration of this movement necessary for thesuccessful operation of the belt shipper must be effected through theinstrumentality of the mechanism intermediate between the scale-leversand the shipper. Still another drawback is that the evening mechanismunder this arrangement has been placed beneath the machine ina positionwhere it is liable to catch and be-clogged by lint and other refuse. Ithas been my object in the present invention to obviate these and otherminor disadvantages, which will hereinafter be referred to.

To this end I substitute for the vibratory weighted lever a weightedslide, upon the end of which the main scale-lever is fulcrumed, saidslide being m0vable back and forth in a right line in the plane of thescale-lever system, whether the latter be in a vertical or a horizontalplane. I prefer, however, to arrange the scale-levers in a horizontalplane, all of them resting upon a horizontal floor or plate, which iscovered or boxed over, both to protect the scalelever system from lint,&c.,

and also to prevent them from rising or get ting out of line. Thescale-lever system is also placed back from under the evener-plates andfeed rolls. The weighted slide, like the weighted lever, aots not onlyto cause the connectingrods of the scale-lever system to hold theevener-plates up in place, but also to communicate movement to thecone-belt shipper; and to this end I prefer to mount said shipper upon aslide capable of nlovcmentin a right line parallel with the axis of thetwo conedrums, communicating movement to said shipper-slide from theweighted slideby rack-and- IOL) -allow them the freedom of movement madepinion or other suitable known instrumen tality.

Instead of applying the scalelevcr-conneeting rods to the evener -platesthemselves, I form each evenerplate as an angle or elbow 1ever, pivoted,at their elbows upon a common fulcrum-rod, and having their vertical andlonger arms connected at their ends to the Scale-lever-connecting rods,which, like the scale-lovers themselves, are placed horizontal insteadof vertical. In this way a comparatively slight movement of the shorterarm of the angle-levcr, which constitutes the evenerplate proper, willimpart a greater range of movement to the enter end of the longer arm towhich the scale-lever-connecting rod is jointed, thus giving moremovement to that rod than it would have were it acted on directly by theevener-plate.

The nature of my improvements and the manner in which the same are ormay be carried into effect will be readily understood by reference tothe aceompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is aplan view of'so muchof a cotton opener or lapper as is needed to explain my invention. Inthis figure the feed-apron and frame therefor are removed and thesealelever box is open. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same,with aportion ofthe frame broken away to expose the scale-lever system and itsaccessories. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 4 is a sideelevation, on cnlarged scale, of the evening mechanism. Fi 5representsin elevation and plan thearrangcment for transmitting motionfrom the weighted slide to the ordinary quadrant belt shipper loverswhich are employed when the conedrums are vertical (which has heretoforebeen their customary arrangement) instead of 1 horizontal, as they arerepresented in the preceding figures.

A is the frame of themaehine.

B is the beater.

E F are the two feed rolls.

Il is the evcner-rol].

J is the rod on which the evcner-platcs are fulcrumed.

K are the evcner-plates, formed as angle or elbow lovers, having theirlonger and vertical arms, K, pinned at their lower ends, each to itsappropriate horizontal sealc-lever connect ing rod L.

M are the seale-levcrs, resting upon the hori zontal floor or plate N,which forms the bottom of a box, the flanged cover of which isrepresented at O. The connecting-rods, as usual, have pointed ends toenter cups or sockets formed for them in the ends of the scale-levers,and they pass to the arms K through openings in the front of thescalelever box, which are slightly enlarged,so as to necessary by thefact that they are jointcd or pinned to the arms Ii. The scale-lover boxis supported by brackets attached to the verti cal cross -partition C,which shuts off from the working parts of the opener those parts of theevening mechanism which are most likely to be elogged by lint andrefusc.

To the under side of the scale-lover box is fixed a plate, D, which atthe front of the box rises in the form of a bracket, D, to furnishbearings in which the rod G is mounted and can slide back and forth, ahead, G, on said rod serving to limit the extent of its forward movement(should it bc necessary) and also as a handle to manpulate it. Thisrod,which is the instrumentality hereinbefore referred to as theweighted slide, enters at its front end through the front of thescale-lover box and bears at its point against the fulcrum-point of themain seale-lever, as indieated plainly in Fig. 1. In the plate D is cuta dovetailed way, in which is mounted the slidebar H", having at itsfront a vertical arm, H, which is secured (preferably adjustablysecnred, as hereinafter described) to the rod G. On the under side ofbar H is a rack, a, which en gages gear b, fast on shaf t I,which hasits bearings in hangers seeured to the under side of the scale leverbox. On this shaft is an arm or segment-pulley, c, from which hangs aweight, d, so placed as to tend to revolve the shat I in a direction tomove the rack-barll, and consequently the slide Gr, toward thescalelevers. In this way the slide G is weightcd and is caused to bearwith y'ielding pressure against the main scalelever.

For the purpose of varying the normal feed of the machine I prefer toadjustably connect the rack-bar H to the slide-rod G, to which end thearm H. of the bar through which the rod passes is internallyscrew-threaded and is engaged by a corresponding screwthread upon theexterior of the rod. By revolving the rod by means of its handle or headG the rack-bar H can be advanced or retracted,thus moving the meehanism(hereinafter described) intermediate between it and the cone-belt to aposition to bring said belt to the desired p0- sition upon thecone-drums.

The intermediate mechanism referred to can best be seen by reference toFigs. 3 and 4. Upon the end of shalt I, which projects beyond and to theleft of the frame of the machine in Fig. 3, is fixed a segment-gear, e,which engagesacorresponding gear, f, mounted upon a stud, g, on the sideof the frame. Upon the hub of gear f is fixed the large toothed sector7t, and this sector engagcs and operates the horizontal sliding raekbarP, mounted in guides lt en the frame of the machine in such manner thatit will slide back and f0rth in a right line parallel with the axes ofthe upper and lower cone-drums, R S, which are placed horizontal, withtheir axes parallcl to each other. To the sliding rack-bar l is rigidlyfixed the shipper i, provided with forks t to cngage the cone-drum beltj. The shipper thus at all times moves in a right line and parallel withthe axes of the cone-drums.

The lower cone-drum, as usual, is drveu from the beatershaft by belt 1and pulleys 2 2.

IIS

From the upper cone-drum motion is imparted to the evener-roll by worm 3and worm-wheel 4. From the evener-roll motion is imparted by gears 5 6to the apron-roll, and by gears 7 8 to the lower one, F, of thefeed-rolls.

The mechanism described by reference to Figs. 1 to 4 is that which ,Iprefer. Its mode of operation and the resulting advantages have alreadybeen sufliciently indicated. In case, however, it should be desired tohave the cone-drums vertical instead of horizontal, this can readily beprovided for, as indicated, for instance, in Fig. 5. In the arrangementshown in this figure the drums are vertical and between them are thecustomary toothed quadrant levers, -k, engaging one another and havingbelt-shipping forks l at their outer ends. To impart movement to theselovers the shaft I would have on it a pinion, m, to engage a pinion, n,on the hub of one of the quadrants.

This arrangement, however, as respects the shipper, is inferior to thatillustrated in the other figures, for the reason that the shippingforksmove in the aro of a circle instead of in a right line.

Having described my improvements and the manner in which the same are ormay be carried into effect, I state in conclusion that I do not restrictmyself to the specific construction and arrangement of partshereinbefore described, because manifestly the same can be varie'd inseveral respects without departure froin the invention; but

Vhat I claim herein as new and of myown invention is as follows:

1. The combination, with the scalelevers, of the weighted slidefurnishinga fulcrum for the main scale-lever and arranged to move backand forth in a right line in the plaue of the scale-lever system,substautially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

2. The scale-levers arranged and supported in a horizontal plane, incombination with the weighted horizontal slide furnishing a fulcrum forand hearing With yielding pressure against the main scale-lever, andarranged and adapted to move back and forth in a right line in the planoof the scale-lever system, substantially as and for the purposeshereinbefore set forth.

3. The pivoted evener-plates formed as anu gle or elbow levers, incombination with the scale-levers arranged and supported in ahorizonta lplane, and the intermediate horizontal pressure-transmitting rods, asand for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

4. The combination of the pivoted evener plates formed as angle or elbowlevers, the horizontally-arranged scale-levers, the connecting-rodsjointed at one end to the longer and vertical arms of said elbow-leversand bearing at the other end against the scale-le vers, and the weightedslide furnishing a fulcrum for the main scale-lever and movable back andforth in a right line in the plane of the scale-lever system,substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

5. The combination, with evening-plates and intermediatepressure-transmitting rods, of the scale-levers arranged in horizontalp0 sition and inclosed in a box located in the frame of the machine at apointin front of the evenng-plates,.substantially as and for thepurposes hereinbefore set forth.

6. The weighted slide G, in combination with its supporting-bracket, andthe sliding rack-bar adjustably connected to said slide, substantiallyas and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

7. The combination, with the horizontal scale-lever system and thehorizontal weighted slide f urnishing a bearing for the main scale leverand arranged to move back and forth in a right line in the plano of thescalelever system, of the cone drums and belt, the beltshipper, andmechanism whereby said shipper is actuated from said slide at the timesand in the manner substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 21st day of May,1887.

JAMES C. POTTER.

Vi tnesses:

.A. T. ATHERTON, O. T. ALIHERTON.

